Iso/iec 17025:2005 Accreditation For State Food Testing Laboratories (u18) Grant

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 ACCREDITATION FOR STATE FOOD TESTING LABORATORIES (U18) GRANT PROPOSALProject SummaryThis grant proposal from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is in response to aFunding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) from the Food and Drug Administration(FDA)The objective of this proposal is to outline the current capability as well as expand thescope of accreditation to test food samples under the State Manufactured FoodRegulatory Program (MFRP) by the Ohio Department of Agriculture's (ODA) ConsumerProtection Laboratory (CPL). If CPL is able to obtain additional funding, CPL willenhance the scope as well as maintain its ISO/IEC 17025:2005 laboratory accreditationand expertise. Ohio's state of the art facilities and experience will also help guide andparticipate in the mentoring of other state laboratories that are just beginning theaccreditation process. If CPL is able to develop a more diversified accreditationprogram, the result would further support the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program(MFRP) for Ohio and develop greater consistency with our federal counterparts.Another objective of CPL's in this proposal is to expand its laboratory analyses fordifferent types of food products. Expanding accreditation for CPL into different areas willhelp to facilitate the analytical capacity for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),which will translate into a better protection of the nation's food supply. Results from CPLtesting will be made available through the eLEXNET system. Developing a nationwideinterface for test results will assist FDA in their enforcement actions, as well as forproviding general surveillance during food borne outbreaks. Enhanced laboratoryaccreditation will also assist ODA's Division of Food Safety in achieving their programconformance and general assessment with the MFRP standards.Since CPL is already a Food Emergency and Response Network (FERN) laboratory forboth Microbiology and Chemistry, strengthening the surge capacity and the capability ofthe FERN for the detection of microbiological and chemical contaminants in response toa food borne disease outbreaks or large-scale food emergencies would be an addedbenefit. Including state laboratories into the federal system will strengthen thecapabilities of the FERN and FDA programs and provide consistent laboratory analysesrelated to microbiological and/or chemical contaminations..This proposal addresses the three key project areas that FDA has identified as thecritical functions integral to this project. As part of the proposal, a detailed view of thelaboratory facilities is provided and supplemented with details of the laboratory supportservices and the campus security plan. To implement the projects outlined in theproposal, the qualifications and the work experience of CPL's staff is also presented.Additionally, the laboratory management practices are also explained in great detail.This grant proposal also addresses the FDA request for the laboratory's ability andwillingness to enter data into eLEXNET. Several additional documents such as theProficiency Testing Schedule (PT), Organizational Chart, List of contents in the Qualitymanual have been provided along with the